Humor is infectious. It lightens burdens, inspires hope, connects us to others, increases our insight, keeps us grounded, focused, alert, and happy.
Laughter is a universal language that stimulates both sides of the brain. It allows us to get messages quicker and remember them longer. We all learn more when we are having fun. Writing this blog is a creative exploration in sharing thoughts that make me laugh, smile, or think. Thinking is the source of laughter. Welcome and have a nice day!

The Platonic dream of ascent toward
the Heavens elicits a demurral in the modern spirit. We “recognize” but do not
necessarily “participate” in the figurative ascent on noble, winged horses of
the gods; soaring upward until we become the rulers of the universe. In
this case, our forbearance works like the light of the sun on Icarus’s wings,
bringing us back down to earth, where we settle on solid ground.

The
intellectual leap one must make in order to imagine a Platonian ascent into
that non-material abstract form, known to us through sensation, requires our
evocation of an imaginative eidos. In the Husserlian sense of “essence,”
the idealization of forms, the pastoral retreat, the ideal Republic, the Golden
Age that sparks genius, we must depart from solid ground, relying only upon our
senses to guide us upward where we might formulate a possible solution to the
problem of universals.

In
metaphysics, the problem of universals refers to the question of whether
properties exist, and if so, what they are. Properties are qualities or
relations that two or more entities have in common. The various kinds of
properties, such as qualities and relations are referred to as universals. For
instance, one can imagine creating a musical composition that has in common the
quality of being inspired or exemplifying genius, or one can refer to complex
thoughts that have in common being the essence of that force which animates one
toward the creative expression deemed 'genius'.

The
“descent” toward earth highlights what is cast in shadow by the major conflicts
of mind, which reluctantly affirm and pay tribute to restraint and stoicism;
the belief that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge. Given that we
cannot claim authority over knowledge, we must bow in reverence to that very
essence or quality which gives rise to it. Consequently, our “ascent” toward knowledge
is perceived as a false conquest, a dream-like encounter with that which can
only be reached by virtue of our imagination.

Liberating Imagination (2014)

Soph Laugh

The
possibility of transcending this dream-like ascent into the very essence of
existence to the point where human understanding is illuminated is hotly
debated, but that does not prohibit one from attempting to understand why the
sun rises, why we exist, or from whence arise the forces that animate the
material universe.

Separating
genius from the individual is akin to the noble escape from the environs of
earth toward the musical spheres of the heavens. Hearing even a faint
mellifluous sound echoed in our minds gives us hope that transcends our
arrogance, our self-aggrandizement, our self assurance and certainty of things.
The timbrel’s thunder quiets Calibran into servitude, the sound of the drums
sweet and high exalt the architecture of our minds, and the protective and
benevolent design that is mimetic of cosmic logos becomes accessible in the
duplication of its reality implicit in the physical state.

I prithee, let me bring thee where
crabs grow;

And
I with my long nails will dig thee pig-nuts,

Show
thee a jay’s nest, and instruct thee how

To
snare the nimble marmoset(The Tempest, 2.2.157-60)

Conjuring Bunnies (2014)

Soph Laugh

As
Caliban conjures the creatures of the island and echoes them, so too do we
conjure genius and echo it in our thoughts and productions. The explorers of
genius contort themselves in straining to see beyond natural presence. One is
rewarded for this transcendent impulse by seeing only his own image on the
surface of it. This accomplishment climaxes when he mirrors or mocks the image
he thinks he sees. The ineluctable fact of uncertainty tests his exalted
aspirations and reminds him of the comic aspect of belief, claims, and
knowledge. For both explorer and the essence being explored, the aim is art, or
song, and the resultant creation or note becomes the echoing sound of hope,
whistling in one’s ears.

"My Bad" (Disclaimer)

A number of the images I post are not my original artwork. Much is sent to me by friends, some I find on Facebook or floating around the Internet. Whenever possible, I site the original artist. If I cannot find the original artist, and YOU are the original artist or you know the original artist, please contact me so that I can site the work accordingly. I apologize in advance for any inconvenience. Please know, if your original artwork was used, it was used for good!